As some of you actually know, I am really keen on the Microsoft Share point 2007 Solution – and believe it’s a rather interesting tool for business solutions.

But the tool comes with the obvious dependency of Microsoft Software, you need their Windows Servers, Workstations, Microsoft Office 2007 Software and most likely more will find yourself in pipeline for future investments in the product.

But behold – there is an alternative from O3spaces – made for OpenOffice.

I am currently going through the motions – testing the software on a Virtual Appliance (vmware) and the products looks quite interesting – its a group ware / document management system – which (imho) provides the things needed for most companies.

Stay tuned for the full test – once completed.

Having offered Applications on Rental Services (Application Service Provider) for many years, it has become obvious that many organisations are terrified of having outsourced services, and I must admit that I fail to see why!

1. You get the opportunity to try something new. You may not have decided on E-Commerce yet, so why not jump into the water and see if you can swim. Less than 10% of the Retails and B2B selling portals out there do benefit from their own solution; 90% could just as easy use something simple and standardized.
2. You don’t have to make the initial investment. The Servers are there, the applications are there – you just add yourself and the required information .. Then you are ready to go.
3. I am special – well so you are… But are you really that special that you find yourselves in the situation that you wish to stay special. And whet is the initial cost of this “Uniqueness”
4. My data are not safe …. Bah….. Not true. Your hosting provide should provide you with regular backups off the content and regular off-site backups / exports mailed / forwarded to your designated destination / email account.
5. The site is not secure… Well – hardly any of the SMB/SME’s who would greatly benefit from the Applications hosted – does employ security consultants. Do you ?
6. What are you waiting for?

It’s that simple.Many entrepreneurs decide to go into business without any idea of who their clients will be and where they will come from. This is a strategic error of epic proportion.

There are a number of ways to test your business plan. (Read more here)

Previous Crash and Burn

A common criticism of project management methodology is that it is cumbersome, paper intensive, and takes too much focus away from the work at hand.

Sometimes this is a reasonable concern, caused by not scaling the procedures to the size of your project. However, project management was not the problem.
The problem was a misguided attempt at implementation of project management. If you implement project management procedures right, the results will be outstanding.

You are not committed

Many organizations (hopefully the Management) say they want good project management, but do the actions back up the words of them?

For instance, the first time you try to define the work, does everyone say “just get going”? If you try to enforce scope change management, does your manager say “just do the work”?

Does your sponsor say you are wasting time identifying risks? This disconnect is very common. The words say one thing, but the actions say another.

Don’t know how to implement changes

Most organizations don’t know how to manage culture change in general and project management in particular. You can’t just train people and turn them loose. You can’t just buy MS Project and turn people loose.

You have to have a long-term, multi-faceted approach to managing culture change. It takes hard work and resources.

Many organizations are not interested in focus on the culture change long-term, and they don’t want to spend any resources to do it.
Is it any surprise then, that six months later, project management deployment ends up in the trash pile of broken promises and intentions which never made it to end of the project.

If you are not ready to do the time – then don’t do the crime.

Generally speaking, all companies and organizations are trying to get better at project management. (In other words, I haven’t seen any that are purposely trying to get worse at it.)

Many companies do believe the role is impossible and may (or may not) have recognize that there might be a value associated with being able to manage projects more effectively.

Why then, are so many organizations still so bad at project management? What is keeping them from being able to effectively manage their projects? See if you can pick out one of my reasons why your organization may falls short in completing a good project.

Project management is a software tool

When you discuss project management with some managers, they initially think you are trying to implement a tool that allows you to be a better project manager.

Actually, if it were a tool, you might have more luck convincing them to do it.

Even though some aspects of project management, like the creation and management of a scope of work (workplan), may utilize certain tools, this is not where the value of project management is.
Instead, project management is about skills and discipline. It’s about applying proactive processes and best practices. It’s about using common and understood procedures. Don’t get me wrong–tools have their place. However, software tools are not the answer.

No-one values the investment of time

Many people (sometime even myself) consider themselves to be “doers.” Organizations can be that way as well.

If you’re going to be good at project management, you have to understand that the upfront planning process has value. You need to know that if you plan the project well (in other words, if you know what you’re doing before you start), you’ll be able to manage the work more effectively.
I have seen organizations that say they want to apply good project management, but then are unwilling to invest the time required. No one wants to take the time to plan. Instead, everyone wants to start executing immediately and then redo all the work later to get it right.

Only do prototyping work, once you don’t know what else to do. Do take the time and plan for a success.

I believe that quite a few books and articles have been written about this subject; and finding myself in the industry for more than 12 years – I take the plunge and start publish – what I consider gathered information about Project Management and the role in Project related work – aimed toward the Projects Manager as well as the Project Team Member.

I do not consider myself as a “Guru” or Specialist within this certain fields, and I am sure quite a lot of people are better skilled and educated in the Project Management role; but I hope to be able to spur a discussion – some of you might find interesting.

Please stay tuned for more information in the months to come; I am trying to make certain chapters and articles available within the upcoming week – hopefully make some of you aware of something quite important; securing a success in daily life and work.

As if the launch plans for Vista weren’t confusing enough, Microsoft execs have played up the steep hardware requirements of the operating system’s bells and whistles, prompting many IT managers to wonder whether the upgrade might signal a jumping-off point for shops that have grown tired of life under Redmond’s collective thumb.

It’s only natural, then, that Linux vendors should take this opportunity to tout the open source alternative. Novell’s latest enterprise desktop packaging of Suse Linux, for one, looks impressive indeed. Novell claims to have referenced some 1,500 hours of video of users interacting with Linux systems in order to refine the GUI on this latest offering, and the results, according to Novell spokespeople, have performed favorably in usability surveys when compared with Windows.

Don’t roll out your tattered old “Year of Desktop Linux” banner just yet, though. It’s still premature to expect a landslide of support from the all-important hardware vendors.

Kudos to Dell CEO Michael Dell for speaking candidly with DesktopLinux.com’s Stephen J. Vaughan Nichols on this issue. Conspiracy theories aside, it seems that Dell’s reasons for not putting more energy behind Linux on the desktop are simple and — dare I say it? — make a lot of sense.

According to Mr. Dell, his company simply can’t afford to support all the desktop Linux options that are out there. If you think six versions of Vista are hard to keep track of, try all the various versions of Linspire, Mandriva, Red Hat, Suse, Ubuntu, and who knows how many others. Although they all may share a common kernel, each distribution differs from the others in significant ways. And, Dell says, in such a fragmented market it’s not his place to take sides.

This is a legitimate problem, and one that deserves a lot of attention from the industry if Linux is to emerge as a viable alternative to Windows desktops. The way I see it, there are two ways around the issue.

One is for some courageous hardware maker to do what Dell is unwilling to do and take a stand. It’s become common practice for server vendors to narrow their support down to the “big two” enterprise Linux vendors. An ambitious manufacturer could take it one step further: “We sell Linux desktops and they come with Ubuntu, period.” Of course, from there you’re just a step away from Apple-style integrated hardware and OS offerings, such as I’ve advocated before in this column.

The other option is for IT managers to simply give up on the idea that hardware and OS support should be had with a single phone call. Let’s face it: If you’re going to install what remains a specialty OS, it only makes sense that you should get your primary support for that OS from dedicated specialists. Let the best-supported distribution win, and maybe eventually the Dells and HPs of the world will catch up with proper support offerings of their own.

Even this isn’t as simple as it sounds, however. For starters, it means customers must have access to top quality, name-brand hardware that’s free from the so-called Microsoft Tax. And even then, it places an undue burden on systems administrators to determine whether a given distribution will run at all on each specific hardware configuration.

Many businesses reach more customers by having a website and by answering a series of simple questions about your business, you’ll find out:

* whether a website could work for your business
* what type of website would be best for you
* how a website could help you get more customers

You may also want to:

* check what type of website your competitors have
* discuss your current and future website needs with an IT adviser
* take advice from a range of website development and design agencies
* get impartial advice from your local adviser

Customers expect national and international businesses to have a website. It’s considered a key method of communication, providing a global shop window for your goods and services.

The absence of a website may affect your customers’ perception of your business.

As your customers already request your goods or services via email, it’s logical to provide an online ordering and payment service.

The Internet is a key marketplace for niche market goods and services. The global audience means that you’re more likely to make contact with your potential customers.

Your business may benefit from a website that allows customers to review your goods or services, order and pay online. This would usually include:

* a description of your goods, products and services
* an online store with descriptions, images and prices
* online forms for enquiries and orders
* online payment options
* delivery options
* regional branch details and opening times
* contact information

The website will become a shop window for your goods and services and form a crucial sales channel with existing and prospective customers. Allowing online ordering and payment will mean your business is trading 24 hours a day to a global audience. Fulfilment of orders made using your website will be a key challenge in ensuring customer satisfaction. Regular updates to the site are also vital in maintaining interest and repeat visits and orders.

When you commission this type of website ensure that you:

* budget for the cost of maintenance and updates
* have processes in place deal with enquiries, orders, payments and deliveries

Websites of this type can cost a minimum of $1,500 to build and at least $1,000 per year to maintain. There is no upper limit. Additionally, you may have to pay commission fees to third party service providers such as online payment processors.

You’d like to go into business for yourself, and believe that the best way for you to become your own boss is to buy a franchise. You know it will takes time and money to be successful, and that’s OK. But which franchise should you buy? Which makes the most sense for you?

Here are some criteria that can help you make your decision:

1. What products or services would you enjoy selling?

What industries do you like, or dislike? Your best bet is to find a franchise in an industry you know at least a little bit about. All too typical is the case of the Chicago car salesman who decided to change careers and go into business for himself. He bought a basement waterproofing franchise but then found the business boring. He wanted to sell it, but sales weren’t as high as he had expected they would be and he had trouble finding a buyer. He was stuck paying off the franchise fee and working at a business he didn’t enjoy.

2. How much money do you have available to invest?

The amount of money you have available to invest in a franchise is an important factor. If you’ve only got $30,000 and the minimum investment for a specific franchise opportunity is $90,000, the opportunity isn’t going to be right for you, no matter how much you like the company.

3. What’s the total cost of purchase?

The franchise fee won’t be your only expense. Find out what you can expect to pay for advertising, training, inventory, insurance, and all other costs in addition to the franchise fee and royalties.

4. How well established is the franchise?

How long has the franchise been in existence? Have they been in business for many years or are they brand-new? How many other franchises have they opened and where are they located?

5. How stable is the franchise?

What is the background of its officers? (Any history of litigation or bankruptcy of the franchise or its officers is supposed to be included in the disclosure document.)

6. What kind of track record does the franchise have?

Have most of their franchisees been successful? Names and addresses of franchisees in your state should be provided before you sign any contract. Call the people on the list and ask about their experiences.

7. What training is available?

Ask what training and support will be provided as part of your franchise fee. Will you get step-by-step instructions and hands-on training? What kinds of manuals and other materials will you get?

8. How close to your store can the franchisor let another franchisee set up shop?

9. Will you be required to purchase supplies or products from the parent company?

If so, compare your cost to the local retail prices of the same goods. There have been instances where the price from the franchise company for goods was higher than the price of the same goods in local retail stores. Selling anything under such conditions would be quite difficult.

10. What do the contract terms say about ownership? Can you sell out to someone else if you wish?

If you want to continue when the contract expires, will it be automatically renewed? Will you be able to convert your store into an independent operation if you should want to?

11. Determine how disputes will be handled should they arise. Watch for clauses requiring arbitration in the franchisor’s home state if it is different than yours. Should a dispute arise, you’d have to travel to that state for arbitration hearings.

12. What criteria does the franchise use in selecting franchisees? Do they do any screening? Or, do they seem more interested in getting your franchise fee?

13. Does the franchise use high-pressure sales techniques to get you to sign on the dotted line?

14. Do you like the people you are dealing with?

15. How big is the market for the franchise’s products or services in your area and how much competition is there now?

A virtual office is a façade used by small business to give the appearance they are bigger than they actually are. There are a number of virtual office services that will provide a professional receptionist to answer calls, take messages, and forward calls to you as if you were a full sized business.

Some of these services also provide mailing addresses in large financial centers to provide a more impressive location for your virtual office. For a small monthly fee, these services will bundle and forward your mail once a week and send it to your actual business address. They can also accept packages for you and contact you via pager for important messages. They will also handle receiving and sending faxes for you and deliver what they receive via email.

A phone message only virtual office can cost you from $10.00 – $40.00 per month and there is generally a small per minute cost for handling calls, typically around $.03. You can expect to pay a bit more if you require mail, fax or meeting rooms. A virtual office can make your business look larger and have a more professional face to your customers. You can even establish virtual offices in major international cities to provide local handling of your international business.